Suit box



Aug. 28, 1956 w. c. DENBY SUIT BOX 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, l955INVENTOk M'ZZzL MY 6. ZZZ/ fig.

FIG-l ATTORNEY United States Patent G SUIT BOX William C. Denby,Jackson, Mich. Application-February 11, 1953, Serial No. 336,350 3Claims. c1. 206-7) The present invention relates to improvements incontainers such as suit boxes, suit cases and other forms of handluggage for storing, carrying, delivering and shipping garments havingparticular reference 'to coats, suit coats and suit coats with pants'o'r skirt combinations.

It-has been the practice in the past to ship and handle mens suits, forexample, in light card board, two-section boxes. To insert the coatwithin the bottom section of the box, it was necessary to fold 'the coatin such a manner that creases were produced in the sleeves and lowerportion of the coat with the result that the suit was out *of press uponbeing removed from the box. Suit cases-and other forms of hand luggagehas also been so constructed that the coat of a suit when packed fiathas 'been folded transversely of the longitudinal axis of the coat.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved containerof the type described into which a coat may be packed flat and thenfolded along its longitudinal axis around a gradual radius in such amanner that when removed from the container the coat has not lost itspress.

Another object is to provide a foldable coat container having threesides joined together along spaced, substan tially parallel hingedlines, the sides being disposable into substantially the same plane soas to permit the coat to be packed flat upon the interior surface of thethree sides of the container with the longitudinal axis of the coatbeing disposed between and substantially parallel to the hinged lines ofthe sides.

A further object is to provide a foldable container as defined in theprevious object in which a foldable hanger for the shoulders of the coatis provided as well as a foldable container for the coat sleeves.

A still further object is to provide a suit box, suit case, or otherform of hand luggage for suit coats and the like so constructed as toreceive and retain the coat so disposed whereby the longitudinal axis ofthe coat defines the fold line and substantially coincides with thehinge line of the continer.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the construction,arrangement and combination of parts going to make up the principle ofthe present invention will more fully appear from the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a suit box blank embodying the principle of thepresent invention,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the box blank of Fig. l folded into thebox form with the hingeable coat hanger and sleeve container added,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a suit box fully opened and the coat andpants in position as packed fiat,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the box shown partially closed,and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the suit box fully closed.

Referring to Fig. l, the suit box blank used to illusice 2 trate theprinciple of the present invention may take many forms as the essence ofthe invention does not reside in the specific construction of the boxblank except as to the provision of one or more fold lines along themedium of the resulting box when it is opened up to receive the pantsand coat of a mans suit, by way of example.

As shown, the boxblank 10 is of conventional paper stock used for suitboxes with longitudinal fold lines indicated at 12, 1 4, 16 and 18 with.the lines 14 and 16 also functioning as hinge lines to open and closethe box. Sides 20 and 22 of the blank 10 define sides '20 and 22 of theresulting box while end portions 24, 26, 28 and 30 of the blank, uponbeing folded along the lines indicated, provide end portions32, 34, 36and 38 of the box.

The box structure to the left-of the hinge line 14 of Fig. l and the boxstructure to the right-of hinge line 16 of Fig. 1 defines a pairofgenerally complementary elongated top and bottom sections adapted tonest one within the other and each having a main rectangular panel 40and 42, respectively, an outer :side .20 .and 22, respectively, andopposed end portions 32, 36 and 34, 38, respectively. The portion'of thebox structure between the lines 14 and 16 constitutes'a centrallongitudinally extending hinge panel portion 44 disposed between themain panels 40 and 42. When \the box is closed, the portion 44 is onesideof the box while the side 20 and 22 overlap to define the oppositeside=of the box.

.In Fig. -2, tthebox is shown with a suitableinsert preferably of paperstock and shaped as acoa-t hanger and attached-at its top to the hingepanel 44 between the -lines 14 and 16 in any suitable manner as, forexample, by gluing, stapling, or the like at the location X. The hanger46 preferably has the fold lines at 48 and 50 to provide wings 52 and 54which receive the shoulders of the coat and which hinge with the panels40 and 42 when the box is closed and the coat is longitudinally foldedabout a gradual non-creasing radius. A further insert 56 of suitablepaper stock is shown attached at its opposite ends along the lines 58and 60 in any well known manner similar to the attachment of the hanger46, to the panels 40 and 42 or, if desired, to the adjacent sides 20 and22. Fold lines 62 and 64 for the insert 56 permit the same to be foldedwith the panels 40 and 42. The slits 66 provide sleeve retaining members68 in a well known manner. With the box closed, as shown in Fig. 5, theend 34 will overlap the end 32 and the end 38 will overlap the end 36.Likewise, the side 22 will overlap the side 20. To secure the freecorner 70 when the box is closed, slits 72 are provided to receive thepointed ends of the tabs 74 which are provided with fold lines 76. It isanticipated that other forms of retaining structure for the corners 70will readily occur to those skilled in the art of box making.

To use container structure embodying the principle of the presentinvention to the best advantage as in the case of suit boxes, suit casesand other forms of hand luggage, the container is opened as shown inFig. 3 preferably upon a fiat horizontal surface. Then the pants 78 orskirt, as the case may be, of the suit are folded once, if necessary,and laid fiat crosswise of the panels 40, 42 and 44. The coat 80 is thenplaced upon the hanger 46 in the usual manner, with the lower portion ofthe coat being placed beneath the insert 56 and the sleeves placedthrough the slits 66 to be retained by the members 68. Thereafter, thecontainer is closed by folding the coat 3% longitudinally along thegradual radius roughly defined by one-half the spacing of the hingedlines 14 and 16. The pants 78, or skirt in the case of a womans suit,are folded along a similar radius.

In practice, it has been found that a suit when stored or shipped in myimproved container is substantially free from wrinkles and will notrequire pressing before being worn, even by the most meticulous person.I

While the principles of the invention have been illustrated as appliedto a suit box of paper stock construction, it is to be understood thatthe principles illustrated have equal application to other forms ofgarment containers, such as suit cases, frameless garment carriers, andthe like, wherein the construction is such that the longitudinal line ofthe coat generally conforms to the hinge line of the garment containerwith the structure adjacent the hinge line of the container being suchthat upon folding and closing the container the folding of the coatalong this longitudinal axis takes place around a gradual radius.

For convenience of description the term suit or suit coat as herein usedis intended to include suits, overcoats, dresses, and similar garmentswhich are conventionally worn or packed upon a shoulder hanger whendisplayed, packed in hand luggage, stored, and the likev Having thusdescribed my invention What I claim is new and desire to cover byletters Patent is:

1. A container for garments such as suits, coats and the likecharacterized by press-retention of the garments in handling and storagecomprising a pair of generally complementary elongated top and bottomsections adapted to nest one within the other along hinge lines and eachhaving a main rectangular panel portion, an outer side and opposed endportions, said outer side at its ends forming corners with said endportions, said outer side and said end portions being disposed at rightangles to said panel portion along the marginal ends and outer sidethereof, a central longitudinally extending hinge panel portion joiningsaid main panels along spaced longitudinally extending hinge lines atthe marginal portions thereof opposite said marginal outer sides, thespacing of said hinge lines of said hinge panel and the width of saidouter side and opposed end portions corresponding substantially to thedepth of the container with said top and bottom sections hinged aboutsaid hinge lines into nested relation, and garment supporting structureoverlapping said panel portion and attached to one of said panelportions and having hinge lines corresponding generally to said hingelines of said hinge panel whereby a garment may be packed fiat upon saidmain and binge panel portions with the container extended with saidgarment supporting structure holding the garment relative to said mainand said hinge panel portions and the garment being foldedalong itslongitudinal axis upon hinging said top or bottom section along saidhinge lines into nested relation to close the container.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said garment supportingstructure is in the form of a coat hanger attached to said hinge panelat one end thereof and having spaced hinge lines corresponding generallyto the hinge lines of said hinge panel.

3. A garment container as-defined in claim 2 wherein sleeve supportingstructure is connected at its ends to said main panels adjacent saidouter sides and disposed transversely to said hinge paneland havinghinge lines corresponding generally to the hinge lines of said hingepanel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,425,068 Sutherland Aug. 8, 1922 1,731,996 Appelbaum Oct. 15, 19291,877,601 Shapiro Sept. 13, 1932 2,004,509 Phillips June 11, 19352,280,138 Vineberg Apr. 21, 1942

